Archive for May, 2010

  • Shadow Inventory
    Posted by on May 31st, 2010 at 7:14 pm, Comments: 0

    Via Calculated Risk, 3 more stories about shadow inventory: Chicago: “The 35-story Lexington Park, near Michigan Avenue and Cermak Road, was surrendered last week by [...]

  • Where White Man Went Wrong
    Posted by on May 31st, 2010 at 7:06 pm, Comments: 0

    Thanks to The Reformed Broker for this gem: I don’t know if that’s a real clipping (I’d guess NOT,) but it still rings true. “Indian [...]

  • Overheating Economies and Terroirs?
    Posted by on May 31st, 2010 at 6:59 pm, Comments: 0

    My friend Ted sent me two data points today:  Canada GDP + 6.1% and India GDP + 8.6%. Wow. Steamy.  I immediately realized that I’d [...]

  • Northeast Haze? Blame Canada!
    Posted by on May 31st, 2010 at 6:31 pm, Comments: 0

    I woke up this morning to the smell of smoke – like one of my neighbors was burning a brush pile.  There was a haze [...]

  • Sports: Sigmas and Bad Beats
    Posted by on May 30th, 2010 at 3:20 am, Comments: 0

    Sigmas:  Wild night in baseball:  Roy Halladay threw the second perfect game this season in MLB, the 20th of all time, and also the second [...]

  • Friday Thoughts
    Posted by on May 28th, 2010 at 2:03 pm, Comments: 0

    Calculated Risk can’t believe there is actually legislation in motion to provide credit to “help alleviate the severe lack of credit for acquisition, development and [...]

  • Vegas: Resort Fees?
    Posted by on May 27th, 2010 at 7:14 pm, Comments: 0

    I went to Chicago a few months ago, and noticed on the hotel bill that I had the option to refuse the free daily USA [...]

  • Hey NY TImes – How About a SPOILER ALERT?
    Posted by on May 27th, 2010 at 6:56 pm, Comments: 0

    Warning – AMERICAN IDOL SPOILER ALERT! In the DVR age, I watch almost nothing in real time.  At the least, I’ll start a show 30 [...]

  • David Einhorn’s NY Times Op-ed
    Posted by on May 27th, 2010 at 1:32 pm, Comments: 0

    Like Steve Wynn’s quarterly conference calls, Greenlight Capital’s David Einhorn’s missives are not to be missed.  Today, he pens a lengthy op-ed in the NY [...]

  • Soap Eating Dogs and Other Stuff
    Posted by on May 27th, 2010 at 3:11 am, Comments: 0

    Late yesterday afternoon I was downstairs watching TV while Mrs. Dynamite was upstairs cleaning.  Suddenly, I heard her cooing “oh, are you ok?” Followed quickly [...]

  • Morgenson Misses the Mark
    Posted by on May 25th, 2010 at 7:55 pm, Comments: 0

    I read Gretchen Morgenson’s recent NY Times piece : “Principal-Protected Notes Aren’t as Safe As They Sound,” and something about it has been bugging me [...]

  • The Worst Proposed Solution To Pension Problems
    Posted by on May 25th, 2010 at 2:57 pm, Comments: 0

    Last week I mentioned a NY Times article about problems with underfunded public pensions.  The Times did a follow up article/discussion with a variety of [...]

  • Lots of Good Stuff to Read
    Posted by on May 25th, 2010 at 2:00 pm, Comments: 0

    NY Times:  “When Passengers Spit, Bus Drivers Take Months Off.” “And the encounters, while distressing, appeared to take a surprisingly severe toll: the 51 drivers [...]

  • Senator Bunning’s Office Responds
    Posted by on May 25th, 2010 at 2:10 am, Comments: 0

    I received an email on Thursday from Senator Jim Bunning’s legislative director, William Henderson.  Unfortunately, it was sent to my secondary account, and I didn’t [...]

  • Bloomberg Writes Some Headline Click Bait
    Posted by on May 24th, 2010 at 1:48 am, Comments: 0

    How else could you describe this one: “Strippers Declare Inflation Dead in Zero Coupon Bond Revival“ Nope – the article doesn’t contain a single mention [...]

  • Friday Links
    Posted by on May 21st, 2010 at 7:40 pm, Comments: 0

    Some of these I sent out on Twitter already:  - Headline of the week: “18 Orgies Later, Chinese Swinger Gets Prison Bed.”  - Dubious Politician [...]

  • Emergency Powers!!??!
    Posted by on May 20th, 2010 at 6:02 pm, Comments: 0

    From the NY Times’ Dealbook: “Federal market regulators are still unsure about the cause of the sharp stock market drop two weeks ago, and that [...]

  • It’s So Easy In Hindsight
    Posted by on May 20th, 2010 at 1:19 pm, Comments: 0

    My friend Ted sent me this story yesterday – a flashback from November, 2007.  All you really need to know is the headline: “Rappers join [...]

  • The Fed on Housing
    Posted by on May 20th, 2010 at 2:37 am, Comments: 0

    Mr. Griffey got neutered today.  We picked him up at 5pm, and he’s been staggering around like a drunk all night, feeling the after-effects of [...]

  • Ban Market Orders!
    Posted by on May 19th, 2010 at 4:51 pm, Comments: 0

    The SEC, in their 150 page report on the May 6th crash, has section (around page 75) on “potential regulatory responses”.  I found this interesting, [...]